Monday, December 29, 2014

Out with the Old ...Welcome 2015

I promised a few friends
that I would attempt to end the year on a more fluffy note. Not that I am a
fluffy person by any stretch of the imagination; I am not. So in keeping with
some kind of inadvertent tradition, I hereby present the year in review.

I didn’t break anything,
thank G-d. I paid off the mortgage. I did a bunch of stuff to the house,
including “winterizing” the sun porch and, of course, the kitchen. I turned the
living room into a bedroom so FIL could remain at home, and together, we faced
his end of life. He didn’t quite make it to my granddaughter’s beginning of
life, having left us on the morning of Yom Kippur, quietly, in bed, just as he
wanted. He missed meeting his great granddaughter by 17days. He was cremated
just as he wanted, and on the weekend of the baby-naming, when the senior son
came in, we buried his ashes at Fort Snelling, just as he wanted. In attendance
were just us: me, his grandsons and granddaughter-in-law whom he adored, his
new-best-friend Handy, and his great-granddaughter. No service, no speakers,
just a 21-gun salute for this proud WWII naval officer. Just as he wanted.

So now, it’s just me and dog
heading into 2015. Funny thing is that I’m rather enjoying this process.
Instead of being terrifying…and I thought it might be…it’s been freeing. I am
only responsible for myself…and dog. I think she’s having a harder time. She’s
taken to dragging her bed so that it’s all the way on the side of the couch in
the study and you can’t see it from the door. I’m trying to teach her to play.
She can now catch a little cookie midair, but she won’t pick up a tennis ball.
We have all winter to work on this, so that when the spring comes, maybe, just
maybe, she’ll want to hang out with me outside. She’s misses FIL; that much is
very clear.

As for politics and news, I
can only say that I am disappointed beyond reason. In the 4 years since the
blog was started, the proliferation of hate speech and divisive media behavior
is astounding. Media outlets on both sides have chosen to publish half-truth
spun in the most hateful, hurtful manner humanly possible. There seems to be
less and less balance and more and more partisanism. And it’s ugly. Very, very
ugly.And it’s not just Fox News or CNN;
it’s Huffington Post, the NY Post, and even the Washington Post. It’s RawStory,
Politico, and New York Magazine. Journalism
is a rapidly disappearing profession and become interpretive art at a time when
we need it to be factual and balanced. I would rather read a string of
unvarnished facts than a Rumplestiltskin version of events spun into salacious
pyrite…because folks, that ain’t gold.

How can you not wonder
about what we’re doing to our own society when we publish headlines that are
just lies? How is that different from anti-American propaganda from China or
Pakistan? Not really. It’s still propaganda even when it’s directed at our own
population. It doesn’t do anyone any
favors to further divide the American people along political/racial/regional
lines. I cannot help but wonder what the real reaction to the lack of
indictment against Darrell Wilson would’ve have been without the 10 second news
cycle. Would we have had a better understanding of the anger? Would there have
been riots without the press?I don’t
know, but I would’ve been more comfortable with reporting that focused on what
we did actually know about the Michael Brown shooting rather than what was
speculation. At the same time, when we know exactly
what happened, as in the case of Eric Garner, how was the officer not indicted?

As we head into the next
presidential election cycle, I am dreading the role the press will carve out
for itself. It sure as hell won’t be that of an unbiased moderator. There isn’t
an organ out there that won’t manipulate the truth for the sake of ratings. Gone
is the idea that a newspaper is supposed to present news. Now, they are simply
in the opinion biz and everyone and everything else be damned.

So let’s welcome 2015 with
a dash of disbelief, a healthy dose of skepticism, and asoupçon of unbridled optimism…because
that’s about all we can afford these days.

Whatever the year
brings….and it’s probably bringing my nonagenarian parents from sunny Flah-rida
to Minnesnowta for assisted living….it’s gonna be an interesting year at the
very least. And ever the optimist, I’m hoping for a fun ride.

The Wifely Person’s Tip o’the
Week

Make a difference in your own life…read something you wouldn’t
normally read.

4 comments:

For 2015, I hope you and dog become a bonded pair because it really is important to have a companion to share the day (which may bring us both beauty and ugliness). May you enjoy the special joy of being a grandmother. May your parents be close to you and you close to them.

I, too, am disappointed with our elected officials. I am trying to find ways to make enough noise to at least be a speed bump to the unrelenting march of the oligarchs. I am certain that the silence of nonparticipation at the polls is not in the country's best interest!One thing for sure, your blog and mine (http://warriorwoman47.blogspot.com), and, the many others represent a counter to the failure of professional journalism. They serve as 21st century pamphleteering, and are needed in the same way as their historical models. Hmmm, did someone say, "fight for net neutrality?" ...So, here's to 2015, May it be filled with the adventures of life and the voice of We, the People!

LINGUA GALACTICA

DREAM DANCER

About Me

I am a widow, a mother, a mother-in-law, a daughter, a daughter-in-law, a grandmother, and I guess since I also have a grandpuppy, that makes me a grandbitch. On the other side of living, I'm playwright, director, and novelist. I have the requisite day job for insurance and steady taxable income. You can now like me on Facebook now, too - just put THE WIFELY PERSON in your search box! https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Wifely-Person/163546490391811 OR write to me at thewifelyperson@gmail.com